Centralian Advocate to continue publication online

Regional news coverage of Alice Springs and surrounding communities will prosper long after the printed edition of the Centralian Advocate ceases later this month.

Centralian Advocate front page 26 November 2019.

Regional news coverage of Alice Springs and surrounding communities will prosper long after the printed edition of the Centralian Advocate ceases later this month.

In the place of the tabloid newsprint pages, will be the digital home page of centralianadvocate.com.au as well as printed newspaper coverage in the daily NT News, which is air freighted daily into the community, assuming daily aircraft operations continue.

Our coverage of Alice Springs Town Council meetings, the political battle for Central Australian electorates at the August 22 NT general election, daily police news, court coverage, the vagaries of our weather and our rich community characters will continue.

Some areas such as sport, some community events and the sheer breadth of the paper’s reach will be recalibrated, given the reduction in the size of the newsroom.

At the heart of our strategy, is a successful subscription-based model where consumers pay for access to ntnews.com.au, and in doing so, provide real-time data to the newsroom on exactly what stories consumers will part cash for.

Alas, the volume of editorial coverage that the community deserves is unlikely to be the same, but we will have a business model that means the cost of journalism is sustainable and that our new business model is geared for growth.

While there will be job losses in June 2020, the new model gives us a plan to grow journalist numbers in cases where the content is demanded through subscriber growth.

The sad reality of the move from printed editions to a digital-first model is that the advertising revenues are diminishing to a point whereby the cost of newsprint, printing presses and the staff who operate them, will soon outweigh the revenue coming in.

In Alice Springs, many marketers in the private sector and in government departments are spending their first dollar with either Facebook or Google, and allocating fewer dollars or no spend with traditional paid media such as the Centralian Advocate, Imparja Television or Sun FM.

In doing so, these marketers are ignoring the measured reach of traditional media in favour of an uncertain online reach, particularly if the online ad platform planning and buying is done with little professional insight or care.

It is even more galling that the corporate giants benefiting from the ad dollar are then ripping off the publishers of Australian journalism at the same time.

Part of the reason for the reason for the decline in advertising revenue is that we as a publishing company permitted much of our content to be viewed online for free over a decade, while asking newsprint customers and print advertisers to foot the bill.

This approach rewarded people for not buying a printed edition, and deprived advertisers access to part of that rich local audience that they had prospered with.

As a journalist, I first worked in Alice Springs as a young reporter under the then chief-of-staff Steve Menzies and I have held newspaper management roles for the past 20 years.

I wear the responsibility with others, for getting the business model wrong and for not moving quicker, and in doing so breaching the faith of the community who want a printed newspaper.

The reality of post COVID-19 is that we sell between two and three thousand printed copies of the Centralian Advocate each Tuesday and Friday, well down on the seven to eight thousand copies that it used to be.

I regret the loss of jobs, not just in Alice Springs but regional Australia.

These losses include the same Mr Menzies, an absolute stalwart of our community, a lovely and generous fellow – who despite recent illness, his recovery and a growing silver beard – had no immediate plans for retirement.

The decision that News Corp Aust. has made, the company I represent locally, means that Mr Menzies’ retirement, complete with entitlements comes at a time not of his choosing.

I am confident that June won’t be the last time you see a Steve Menzies byline – he is a mine of information, and has the contacts and knowledge that will continue to be employed in a lesser form but in a manner of his choosing.

Let me be clear that the decision to cease printing was not a decision made by the team in Alice Springs.

I thank our team led by Editor Anthony Geppa, all of whom are deeply disappointed with the decision to stop printing.

The loss of newspaper jobs is not only a devastating personal experience it is amplified at a community level through population decline and people choosing to leave town.

Moving forward, there will be a number of journalists on the ground who will continue to serve the Centre, supported by newsrooms in Darwin and across Australia.

You will hear more about our approach in coming weeks, but we’re committed to seeing one of Australia’s greatest news beats, prosper and generate more jobs for journalists.

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Without a News Corp Australia presence, our town would be serviced by a handful of journalists funded by Australian taxpayers at the ABC and one or two others in newsrooms paid for via commercial or corporate means, charitable or philanthropic endeavours.

If there is no News Corp, the heaviest of lifting in terms of regional coverage would fall to the ABC.

Is this what the community wants?

I say this to point out the diminished scale – not to criticise these journalists in our town who bring their appreciated voices forward.

The Centralian Advocate could never expect to rely on corporate charity to pay its own way, nor should it be entitled to taxpayer hand-outs.

We are charting our own future, one where the user pays and digital subscription revenues hold primacy and where the biggest corporate abusers of proud Territory journalism are required to pay for it just like everyone else.

Greg Thomson is News Corp Australia’s NT general manager